Two voices through the ages

Top performances usually go hand in hand with specialization. But violinist Sini Simonen and cellist Alexandre Foster are taking a different approach. They have opted for a combination of neoclassical sounds, two-part motets by Orlando di Lasso and contemporary sounds from different countries, each with its own style.

Variety is thus ensured. But Foster and Simonen achieve much more. In their foray through the ages, they discover various gems, which they present with more than just polish. Maurice Ravel's Sonata for violin and cello takes center stage. Roman Brotbeck rightly points out in the booklet that it «sometimes sounds like a string quartet». In addition to the astonishing sonority, the brilliant four-movement homage to Claude Debussy, who died in 1918, impresses with its elegance, polyphonic density and rhythmic finesse, which sound like modern Béla Bartók.

Moser and Winkelman

Switzerland resonates in the subtext: Alexandre Foster teaches as a cello professor at the Basel Music Academy. Bohuslav Martinůs Duo II was written near Basel, when the composer was a guest of Maja and Paul Sacher. Works by Roland Moser and Helena Winkelman also contribute to this wonderfully entertaining production: Moser's Three dedications are highly concentrated studies in which semitones, flageolet worlds and natural tones leave special sound impressions. In her early work Rondo with a Janus head already foreshadows what characterizes Basel-based Helena Winkelman to this day: a polystylistic openness with lively folk music and some jazz rhythms. Winkelman's lively Rondo is rightly written at the end of a CD on which Simonen and Foster hit the tone of the very different music at every point. We can only recommend it: Please listen in one go!

Bicinia. Works by Orlandi di Lasso, Bohuslav Martinů, Maurice Ravel, Helena Winkelman, Roland Moser, György Ligeti, Kaija Saariaho. Sini Simonen, violin; Alexandre Foster, cello. Claves Records CD 3134